The real Glaswegian working class voice in the independence debate read by thousands, the BBC and other related media, secured the first criminal conviction against one of the seven top cybernats outed by the Daily Mail

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont doesn’t
want to be First Minister of Scotland.

Although she was educated in the university
sector, she has no idea how to secure its future or that of the college sector.

But she does say she is willing to listen
which is code for ‘someone give me a policy’.

The SNP has a flagship policy of free
university tuition, the past Labour has supported this, the ‘good times’
however are over, in the education sector there is much wrong, but it cannot be
pinned on free tuition.

Universities have been allowed to develop
into mini fiefdoms which grow and as they were allowed to grow they sucked up
funding.

The Scottish Funding Council provides
funding for universities and colleges, it is slanted in favour of universities,
just check their committees.

I support splitting the council into two
distinct bodies, Scottish Funding Council (universities) and Scottish Funding Council
(colleges), that way colleges can be allowed to flourish.

The college sector has always been
underfunded to the betterment of universities, but it is the college sector
which needs to grow.

Universities need slimmed down.

The old model of three tier education is
unsustainable, which is why I came up with four tier, university, college,
community college and schools.

Community college isn’t a new thing;
however I propose that the Community colleges are run by councils to generate
revenue for them. Community Colleges would be based in schools at nights and
during summer break. Money would come from different stakeholders and the
public.

Four tier Education could be the way of the
future, government just don’t know it yet.

To return to Ms. Lamont, she says that free
tuition is starving colleges of cash, could she provide evidence for this?
Surely it can be based on the assumption that if universities charged then
extra money would be available to the college sector?

Where’s the proof?

In fact where is any of the work which
supports her position?

The problem of college cuts is more complex
than just free tuition, if free tuition goes, it doesn’t translate to saving
the sector, all it does is shore up the same rotten corrupt system for a bit
longer.

In playing the blame game, Alex Salmond accused
Ms Lamont of being part of a “Labour-Tory alliance” on the issue.

I don’t see an alliance, all I see is the
Tories taking the least line of resistance and being policy lite on this
matter, it’s a major overhaul that is needed in the sector.

Since it is near Xmas, Salmond brought up
the ghost of David Cameron, education is devolved, Cameron has no role in this,
but speaking of anglicisation, who is it who is bring Scots law into line with
England?

No points, its Alex Salmond and the
Scottish National Party Government.

It seems that Salmond has climbed into bed
with the Tories as well.

If Lamont keeps going with her disastrous
policies changes, the only thing in her stocking will be her feet.

Big ideas and radical overhaul is needed, and
all Johann Lamont can do is cry wolf.

It is almost like she doesn’t want Labour
to win at the next Holyrood election, maybe Labour MSPs will notice too, Ken
Macintosh is looking increasingly like the man who can change Labour’s
fortunes, either that or Ms. Lamont better get new help in and do what she is
told.

If I said AAA to most people in a supermarket, I would probably get directed to the place where the batteries are stored.

Having said that ....... AAA is important to Scotland, thise credit rating is important in whether investors looking at Scotland see it as viable.

It would also allow Scotland to get better terms when applying for loans and selling bonds in the markets.

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore and by the same token the Westminster don’t wish the UK to break up, Scotland has assets beyond oil.

He has given the strongest indication yet that the Bank of England would not be the lender of last resort for an independent Scotland.

In truth, I always say hope for the best but plan for the worst.

Sadly, the SNP Government and the Scottish National Party hasn’t planned for anything, no plan A and no plan B.

To put it in context, recent Yes Scotland put up an advert for a job, the jist is that the person or persons doing it has to find new facts why independence is attractive.

This is a bit like putting the cart before the horse.

In the beginning there should be a vision, Salmond and Sturgeon don’t have one, then there comes the plan, from what I see and hear, there isn’t much of that either. Once you have the plan, then you research and build up from that. You put in the foundations and from the bottom go upwards.

Yes Scotland is starting at the roof and trying to go downwards, which explains why the whole thing is a shambles. Only now they want someone to find facts? This is a general sense of why the whole independence campaign is not relevant to ordinary working class Scots.

But to return to Mr. Moore, his stint at the crease is proving most illuminating as he told the House of Lords committee investigating the economic impact of independence, it was “extremely unlikely” that the rest of the UK would agree to the Bank of England acting as Scotland’s central bank.

No lender of last resort facility was expected, in fact it was pretty much staring the SNP in the face, the idea should now be for a Scottish Pound, but we are miles away from bunny in any real sense.

Because there isn’t a plan!

All the ‘work’ done by the independence campaign has been wasted, everyone wasted their time, nothing was accomplished; it was a pile of shit.

Here is a quote from Alex Salmond:

“My problem is that I have too many talented people and not enough Cabinet positions”.

Have you seen the movie Animal House?

If so you will remember this:

‘cough cough blow job, blowjob.... cough cough eat me eat me’!

The ‘talent’ has pissed this campaign right up against the wall, from the un-historic start at the ‘Declaration of Cineworld’ to the EU ‘liargate’ debacle.

Moore says next year that the Treasury will produce a whitepaper to confirm this view; he has a vision, is producing a plan and is finding the facts. That’s how it works; Yes Scotland should take note.

Recently SNP Finance secretary John Swinney damaged his own credibility by saying that he had been in talks with the Bank, this was later denied by the Bank, they said they answered technical questions, which they say doesn’t amount to a dialogue.

In embellishing events and having that shot to shit, it undermines one of the key claims of the SNP and Yes Scotland campaign over economic security for an independent Scotland.

When we go it alone, we have to prepare to go it alone, it’s called planning, something certain people are incapable of doing because the SNP as said by many, including Jim Sillars is run as a one man band.

The SNP think that if they keep saying something it will become true, maybe in the world of their clique that happens, history is rewritten to suit, but in the real world, when they have no power, they are onto plums.

The claim that the Bank of England would continue to be the lender of last resort for Scotland was first made by Mr Salmond in January.

Did Salmond have anything which he could produce which would be regarded as an agreement?

No, like the short term politician and lightweight he is, he said something to get him out of a jam, he winged it, now he has been winged and is falling.

Another cracker of entitlement was parroted out by Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon that Scotland would have a territorial seat on the Bank’s board.

Did Nicola Sturgeon have an agreement or hint that this would be possible?

No, she has nothing but hot air as she vented on this subject. Subsequently that idea put forward by her as ‘reasonable’ has been shot to shit.

Yesterday at the Lords economic affairs committee Mr Moore said:

“The Bank of England as a lender of last resort is I think highly unlikely to be an acceptable position for the rest of the UK.”

He added:

“The SNP Scottish Government simply asserts that it will happen, but the rest of the UK will need to be generous in spirit and intent for that to be done.”

The independence campaign can survive many things but it can’t survive the continual assumptions put forward as facts, it can’t survive lying or the breach of trust, it cannot survive without firstly a vision, a plan and filling in the blanks with evidence, commonly known as facts.

Johann Lamont has decided to lay out her
plans to continue as opposition leader in Holyrood.

Her plan is simple, get policies that are
vote losers and place them in front of the public.

The latest stone dead killed in the water
proposal centres on the issue of free higher education.

There is no such thing as free higher
education, it is paid for by all of us out of general taxation but what it does
do is allow people in poor and deprived areas to get up and out.

We have seen countless reports and heard countless
instances that poor students are less likely to get accepted at university and
those who do get in, it is a few.

St Andrews record of admitting the poorest
students tells you all you need to know about the glass ceiling.

Johann Lamont has started a ‘debate’, the
debate however is when Ken Macintosh will take over the leadership of Scottish Labour
from her.

Lamont starts off her proposal by saying
that students should pay a ‘modest contribution’ but as we have seen down
south, it starts small and then grows.

£9,000 a year is charged in some
universities down south.

Another part of Ms. Lamont’s ‘strategy to lose’
is to end universal services such as free prescriptions.

And as well as that other ideas just a return
to the graduate endowment is "the most obvious option" has been
floated.

That idea was floated and sunk by public
opinion.

In a speech to mark her first anniversary
as Labour leader which the successes can be measured by the SNP putting their
foot in their mouths, she has produced a vision of enlightenment.

It is true that a conversation about how free
higher education is funded and the disgraceful way the SNP has botched the
college sector, but she has no answers.

One retired college principal described
Labour`s review of universal services as "courageous". Funny how
people find their voice while exiting the building, courageous, is that what
Ms. Lamont is?

Where is the courage of her convictions?

If she had courage she would have something
to show the rest of us, no apparently she hasn’t, others have to fight the
battle and she steps in at the end takes the credit.

Lamont isn’t the future of the Scottish
Labour Party, she is the past, Macintosh represents the future and the only way
they can return to power at Holyrood.

A student member of the Labour Party has warned
that tuition fees could be "the tipping point" for some students and
discourage them from pursuing their education.

And also voting Labour, there is a third
way to solve higher education; it is called four tier education which I have
written about and blogged on previously.

Ms Lamont said: "We don't support
up-front tuition fees because people perceive that as a barrier.

We just support back end tuition which is a
barrier?

Lamont added:

"But we also have to recognise that,
currently, the tuition-fees policy is being paid for by colleges. That is
simply not sustainable and I think we need to have an honesty about how we
perhaps make sure that those with the broadest shoulders bear the greater
burden."

The broadest shoulders being universities
themselves which need to be slimmed down from the ‘days of empire building’ in
various CAPU units where expansion without thought was allowed to occur without
an adequate plan!

She added:

"This argument is sometimes framed as:
you are either in favour of free education or you are not”.

As someone who benefit from free education
she apparently wants to ‘pull the ladder up’ from the poorest getting in.

Her ‘plan’ in the round is to keep the
current broken corrupt system and transfer the problem onto students, it’s
called screwing people out of money.

Lamont highlights by saying:

“I'm saying we need to have a much more
mature debate about what is actually happening and a modest contribution."

Will she support retrospective fees so that
the full cost of her education can be reclaimed?

Maybe someone should ask her!

Let’s go back a step and return to Ian
Graham, retired principal of Glasgow`s John Wheatley College, he said:

"In the period since my retirement a
year ago, I have witnessed the virtual dismemberment of Scotland's colleges. It
is really an attempt by the current Government to maintain the fiction that it
is possible to have free services in Scotland without cost."

The problem with the current SNP Government
is that Alex Salmond appointed a loser called Mike Russell who is another one
of his cronies who hasn’t an intellectual pot to piss in.

His tenure of education has been ruinous as
he tries to shore up the same corrupt broken system that Lamont wants to keep
afloat.

She is right to criticise Russell but less
we forget, she is also in the same leaky boat, the only difference is she is
paddling in a different wrong direction to Russell.

Universities need slimmed down, the college
sector needs revamped and allowed to grow, a new tier of community colleges
needs set up and secondary and primary education reviewed.

Ian Graham has described universal services
as "a cruel and wicked deception" which is "unsustainable"
in the current circumstances.

He added:

"Johann Lamont has not dodged the hard
issues. She has made some courageous statements about the sustainability of
free services."

But is totally vacuous regarding fixing it.

Ms. Lamont clear has an agenda not to move
into Bute House, she must want her weekends free, she can have this by step back
and allowing Ken Macintosh to become leader of Scottish Labour.

Lamonts should face up to the real hard
choices and that involves her stepping down as Labour leader.

She can waffle on playing the ‘concern
citizen’ who shafts the poor but in the end, she is producing vote losing
policies and taking Labour into a cul de sac.

Maybe if she had less of a ‘ball’ at
Glasgow University we would be treated to this unimaginative crap.

If there was a prize
for grasping at straws, she could be nominated; the independence campaign under
her leadership has all gone sideways, not in a slide to left or the right, but
in a slide straight into the political shitter.

In her Herald article
she starts off by telling us that:

“Scotland is an
ancient European nation”.

By that token does that
mean the eastern European states which joined the EU were also ‘ancient
European nations’ but they just didn’t know it, it is ludicrous to start a
serious discussion playing to sentiment.

Ms. Sturgeon playing
for the sympathy vote before the end of her first sentence; screams the
act of someone desperate and needy.

In her case, no
one is coming to help her, it’s just her, Salmond, their nasty vile poisonous
clique and hangers on that will be sitting on the ‘grassy knoll’, which
incidentally according to her is ancient and European and a nation.

Scots won’t be voting
for the United States of Salmond.

“That simple truth,
perhaps more than any other, undermines the recent ludicrous scaremongering of
the anti-independence parties in relation to our place in the European family
of nations”.

Sadly, Ms. Sturgeon is
trying to rewrite history, both ancient and modern and failing on both counts,
the Sun newspaper, courted by the SNP recently printed ‘EU Liar’, front page
regarding Alex Salmond. It seems that ‘scaremongering’ if it is to be called
that, is based on the truth.

So what is the truth?

The truth is that the
SNP Government and the Scottish National Party have done sweet FA, absolutely
sweet FA to prepare Scotland for independence or even produce a rolling blue
print, in their entire history.

Salmond and Sturgeon
are just making it up as they are going along from crisis to crisis, all of
their own making. Jim Sillars, former SNP Deputy said that the SNP is a one man
band, many people will agree with that sentiment, there isn’t the talent in the
party because it is as I previous blogged, it is run as a nasty poisonous clique.

It is particularly
odious in Glasgow where Nicola Sturgeon is trying to build her little ‘empire’....
with the little people.

Time for a quote;
‘it’s not where you come from but where you are going’, Bashir Ahmed.

Apparently this
Sturgeon piece is the exact opposite which many in the SNP espoused, Alan
Cochrane of the Telegraph says that the SNP will say anything to get what they
want which is a pretty unprincipled stance.

“For centuries
Scotland was an independent European country, trading with our near neighbours
on the Continent. And while that long pre-dated the modern European Union, the
point is this: those same trading and economic considerations mean the EU and
its constituent partners will want Scotland to continue in membership”.

Assumption, and not
based on fact.

The Spanish have
problems, Catalonia, it isn’t in their interest to support the SNP, then there
are other parts of the EU such as our Flemish cousins equally unhappy about
their situation.

“Why on Earth would
they not, given the huge resources and advantages that Scotland brings to the
European table?”

The answer to this
question is that the EU already has Scotland’s assets to draw on via the UK’s
membership.

The question is what
does the Scottish National Party have to bring to the table that isn’t already
there?

Nothing!

“Our greatest asset as
a nation always has been and always will be our people and their ingenuity, but
Scotland also has enormous natural resources. And it is stretching credibility
beyond breaking point to attempt to suggest, as some do, that Scotland –
already an integral part of the club for four decades – would be excluded when
we have such vast assets. Scotland has around 90% of the EU's oil reserves and
a huge share of the Continent's renewable energy, as well as some of the
richest fishing grounds in Europe”.

Again is being offered
something you already have a good bargaining chip?

Ms. Sturgeon offers
nothing, she has nothing, and she is willing to give up what is there by
negotiating it away.

Ms. Sturgeon is a
lawyer, worked and trained as a lawyer; she is making an offer on behalf of her
client that offer in its entirety amounts to nothing!

“Would Brussels really
want to lose such assets at a time when energy security is one of the
dominating political and economic issues of the early 21st century? Would
Spanish, French and Portuguese fishermen want to be blocked from fishing the
lucrative waters in Scotland's sectors of the North Sea and West Atlantic?”

There is according to
her no danger of that happening; didn’t Ms. Sturgeon say that Scotland’s EU
membership would be automatic?

Now, lets us turn to
something utter disingenuous and divorced from reality which highlights how
badly out of touch Ms. Sturgeon is.

“Realpolitik is a
German concept and it found perhaps one of its greatest modern expressions in
the country which gave birth to the term. When the Berlin Wall fell in late
1989, few at that point would have expected a united Germany to be part of the
then European Community within less than 12 months – but that is exactly what
happened when German reunification took place on October 3, 1990. Overnight,
East Germany, which had been subject to Communist rule for four decades, became
part of the Brussels club, despite stringent rules for new members which say a
functioning market economy and a well-established democracy are fundamental
prerequisites for membership. Realpolitik – hard-headed political
considerations – meant that the former East Germany was in.

What is so annoying
about this utter fantasy version of Realpolitik is that it fails to address
reality but more importantly law.

Germany is an EU
member, when the Berlin wall fell, Germany increased its size by
re-unification; re-unification was not a matter for the EU because it was an
issue of German sovereignty.

This is quite the
opposite situation in the UK with the SNP wanting Scotland to leave the UK.

The UK solely holds the
EU contract; Ms. Sturgeon should know this as it is simple contract law.Once
Scotland leaves it becomes a new State and a new State according to Mr. Barroso
has to apply to join the EU.

For years the SNP
based their EU stance on a false premise of supposed rights citing that since
Scots had been citizens for 40 years they would keep that citizenship.

That isn’t true and
Ms. Sturgeon should know that isn’t true, so why is she saying this?

Some in the unionist
camp may opine that Ms. Sturgeon is attempting to deceive the Scottish people.
When asked would Scotland have to re-negotiate EU membership she said no.

Now her position is
yes, but yes because it is under the microscope, fantasy politics had to be
replaced by Realpolitik because she didn’t have a leg to stand on legally.

But EU membership for
Scotland isn’t just a legal matter, it is also a political decision, the UK
wasn’t allowed into the EU club for many years, being denied membership by De
Gaulle.

What plans are in
place if someone objects?

Nothing!

“How much more
straightforward is Scotland's case, given our 40 years of existing membership,
which by definition means we already meet the required criteria. The attempts
by some in the anti-independence camp to conflate the argument surrounding the
East German precedent in an attempt to draw comparisons between that country
and modern Scotland are truly pathetic and simply betray the utter paucity of
their arguments”.

Sadly, she fails to
understand that Scotland doesn’t have a membership, I am talking about law
here, everything to do with membership rest solely with Westminster.

“As a joint paper
published earlier this year by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the British
Academy put it: "There is no reason why an independent Scotland would fail
to meet the Copenhagen criteria (the basic standards required to be eligible
for EU membership, including democratic governance, the upholding of human
rights and a functioning market economy). That same paper also observed that an
independent Scotland's continued EU membership is "unlikely to be
opposed".

What does this paper
mean?

It means the same and carries
as much weight as the guy standing next to you in the pub.

Now let’s look at some
‘nuts and bolts’ leaving aside some of Ms. Sturgeon’s ‘decorations’ to pad it
out.

“Our consistent
position – as attested to by documents published since 2007 – is that the
specific terms of Scotland's continued EU membership will need to be negotiated”.

According to reports
she previously said that membership would be automatic and there would be no
need to negotiate. Perhaps she can’t remember what she says and when she says
it, luckily for her, her unionist colleagues in the spirit of being helpful
accessed the record.

“And while it is
perfectly reasonable to argue that we would jointly inherit the existing UK
opt-outs on the single currency and Schengen, it is nevertheless the case that
on the question of the euro, for example, there is effectively a double-lock –
there are other EU countries which have not adopted the single currency and
have no intention of doing so, with Sweden perhaps the best example, that no
nation can be forced into euro membership. And on Schengen, opting to stay out
and instead co-operate with Ireland and the rest of the UK in the Common Travel
Area is a justifiable proposition that, given their position in other circumstances,
our EU partners would understand”.

Perfectly reasonable
doesn’t mean anything in a legal sense, Scotland wouldn’t inherit any of the
existing UK opt outs, this although an argument is just fantasy on her part. Since
the climb down by Salmond and Sturgeon as they are busy themselves trying to re-write
history, they accept negotiations will take place.

If the EU will not
move its stance that new members join the Euro, what’s plan B?

There is no plan B and
there is no plan A either by Ms. Sturgeon.

In grasping to
anything, she highlights David Cameron who said:

"There are
countries in the European Union who have no early or immediate or indeed
longer-than-that prospects of joining the euro, and I think that is the
important point."

That is because they
are on their arse financially, and as we see in Greece and Spain, the Euro is so
unstable, it is literally tearing those countries apart.

Cameron has problems
in his own neck of the woods from Tory Eurosceptics who want a referendum and
Britain out. So, he is forced to say what he needs to say to get breathing
room.

His discomfort is
hardly what Ms. Sturgeon should be betting the farm on as evidence!

And it is feeble
politics to stagger into anti Tory territory rhetoric much like a Christmas Carol
of the ghost of Christmas past, did she waving metal chains over this part of
her piece and go ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh while making circular motions?

"The opinion of
European Commission President Barroso is important and is to be respected, as I
said to Holyrood last week. However, it is by no means the only or the decisive
opinion in the matter of Scotland's future in Europe".The only opinion that Salmond listens to is his own, the SNP was a protest movement that became a political party which then became a clique, I don't see respect for the opinions of others high on Salmond's radar.

In ending her diatribe
of fantasy, anti Tory rhetoric and the ‘Devine right of Salmondism’, Ms. Sturgeon
is in no danger of usurping JK Rowling as a writer of fiction as she attempts
to weave fact and fantasy and appear ‘perfectly reasonable’.

We have seen the ghost
of Christmas past, we have seen the ghost of Christmas present and Scots will
have a pretty good idea of what the ghost of Christmas future has in store for
Ms. Sturgeon.

Her future is that her
goose is cooked.

Maybe she should go
back to health and kick Tiny Tim’s crutch away, then write another diatribe of that
what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger!

The campaign by lawyers against the SNP
Government for trying to deny the poor access to justice continues apace.

The latest escalation sees hundreds of
Edinburgh solicitors pulled out of a vital legal aid scheme; this means they
will take no part in the Police Station Duty Scheme for Edinburgh Sheriff Court
in the first quarter of 2013.

The problem is Scotland’s inept and
incompetent Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, who is just Salmond’s crony; he
is pocketing a ministerial salary while being out of his depth and out of
touch.

Although Scotland hasn’t had a proper
Justice Minister since 2007, this latest incompetence cannot and will not
remove the stain of Megrahi from MacAskill’s record.

He carries that shame to the grave.

The Edinburgh Bar Association (EBA) has 31
firms in its and their withdrawal throws justice into chaos, Police station
detainees are entitled to access to legal advice, they can only be held for a maximum
of 24 hours.

This provision has to be available day or
night.

No Lawyers means Police will be forced to
wait to interview suspects, possibly this could result in more injustices
happening; and all because MacAskill wanted to save a few miserable pennies.

It is expected as a racing certainty that
other associations will climb onboard and follow the EBA example to protest at
controversial plans by the Scottish Government to change legal aid.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government
said:

"This action by the EBA, which seeks
to put the criminal justice system at risk for the convenience of solicitors,
is extremely disappointing and attacking the police station duty scheme in this
way is totally unjustified."

Fuck you sycophant.

Unsurprisingly the Scottish Legal Aid Board
(Slab), which runs the Police duty scheme, added that action "appears to
risk damage to the justice system". Lukewarm response and trying to tread
a thin line, but slightly edging towards the government, at least in public!

Cameron Tait, EBA president, said the
action may cause delays in policing.

In a letter to Slab, he said:

"This is in protest at the planned
expansion of contributions in criminal legal assistance and their collection. It
is also a protest against the position adopted by Slab and the Justice
Secretary in the public domain over these issues. This Association is of the
view that Slab and the Scottish Government are making little secret of the lack
of value they attach to the service which is provided to the public and to the
Criminal Justice System as a whole by the independent criminal bar in
Scotland."

At a recent lawyers meeting which touched
on independence, they were asked who supported indy, according to reports, not
a single hand in the room went up.

Not a single hand!

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill wants
those with a disposable income of £82 a week or more to pay a contribution to
their legal aid, but lawyers claim this will limit access to justice.

This means an innocent person at the start
of proceedings is effectively fined for being innocent.

What kind of justice is that?

Justice in the SNP Government is largely
seen a joke, the idea that Scottish people looking at what is happening are
going to vote for independence when MacAskill is fashioning a Justice system
fit for a third world country is risible.

Mr Tait added:

"Slab and Government ministers refuse
to discuss sensible alternatives for collection of summary contributions. We
believe it is clear that Slab is now directing Government policy, is capable of
riding roughshod over the considered views of Parliamentary Committees, and is
pursuing a policy of attrition against the independent criminal bar."

As a minority government the SNP was forced
to constrain their stupidity, however a majority has allowed them to show utter
contempt for people and human rights, Alex Salmond has outstayed his welcome
among Scots.

Some people tell me they are embarrassed when
they meet new political people to tell them they are in the Scottish National Party,
I can understand why.

The talent and the caliber are not there at
the top, the majority has allowed this to come out.This quote by Winston Churchill sums Kenny MacAskill rather well:"I had hoped that we were hurling a wildcat onto the shore, but all we got was a stranded whale."

Along long time ago, I can still remember
when that music used to make me smile!

And also I still remember saying and
blogging that the SNP Government needed to plan for a Scottish Pound.

Given the recent driving off a cliff of the
independence campaign by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, it appears that
George Laird is right again.

When Alex Salmond and co decided that they
won’t ‘scare the horses’ by saying people won’t notice a difference in an
independent Scotland, he got the strategy wrong.

Time for a quote by Salmond:

“My problem is that I have too many
talented people and not enough Cabinet positions”.

For ‘talent’ read ‘cronies’ and now we are
seeing how unprepared, lacking in vision and forward thinking the SNP
Government actually is, double U turn on Europe served with side orders of untrustworthiness
and a garnished deception.

So, up pops Mark Allen, he says that an independent
Scotland would need to create its own currency rather than enter a monetary
union with the UK.

If Scotland is ever to become independent
then it cannot surrender fiscal sovereignty to London.

Mark Allan, has gave advice to the Monetary
Policy Committee, he is questioning the SNP's plans to keep the pound in a
briefing paper for investors issued by the global asset management giant.

Fair enough, how can investors have
confidence when the Scottish Government cannot guarantee anything?

At present Scotland’s unpopular Deputy
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is trying to put the genie back in the bottle,
a genie called incompetence, she is failing, in her attempt she roped in other
SNP Ministers to support her stance which is bogus and unsubstantiated crap.

Ms. Sturgeon said an independent Scotland
would have to negotiate with the EU on the euro, border controls and keeping a
share of Britain's cash rebate. As to the rebate, Scotland isn’t entitled to a
share because the contract is with Westminster, and any discussions on that
must include them, and they aren’t going to give that up.

The
AXA report by Allen said:

"An independent Scotland almost
certainly means a new currency."

George Laird right again!

Allen also highlights issues over national
debt running into billions, and the fact that there is North Sea oil production
falling.

The SNP put a lot of store in oil buoying them
up and talk of an oil fund which seems bizarre, not in the concept but on the
execution since the financial arrangements haven’t been set to see whether an
oil fund like Norway is possible.

If we are talking about an oil fund, we are
talking about a higher taxation Scotland under the SNP.

Yesterday saw another SNP claim bite the
dust as the Bank of England dismissed the SNP claim of dialogue with Holyrood
over a possible sterling zone.

Alex Salmond is making his Ministers look
like buffoons with his untenable positions on several issues.

Mr
Allan claimed:

"First Minister Alex Salmond said an
independent Scotland would continue using sterling, effectively giving birth to
a 'sterling zone'. I doubt this will be possible."

He makes the argument that down the road
the Bank of England if and it is only an if, they went along it would be under strict
conditions.

He added:

"Given the Scottish Parliament already
has substantial autonomy on domestic issues, if the first act of an independent
Scotland was to surrender almost all fiscal sovereignty to London in order to
continue using sterling, one could reasonably ask: what was the point of
independence”?

So, again, we are getting questions about Salmond’s
integrity as he faced questions on his plan to join a currency union his spokesman
has declined to give details of the contacts or what questions had been asked.

Apparently ordinary Scots are viewed as too
stupid to know by the SNP Government.

A
spokesman for the pro-UK Better Together campaign said the AXA document
"concludes that the case for independence is nonsensical and the case for
staying together with the rest of the UK is strong".

Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie said:

"This report highlights the
idiosyncrasy of the SNP's fiscal policy for an independent Scotland, whereby a
fiscal stability pact would mean spending decisions could be controlled by a
foreign bank."

Another day and more disastrous news which
will lead many in the independence campaign to conclude that Alex Salmond and Nicola
Sturgeon have played the people and them for fools.

Nicola Sturgeon in a video said something
along the lines, 'don’t wake up the day after independence vote and ask if there was
something more you could have done.’

I would say to her, like you done at health
leaving 1,000 cancer patients up shit creek!

With the SNP’s EU
debacle taking centre stage as Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon tries desperately to find a foothold, there is also another
equally damaging issue of trust in the SNP Government looming.

The Bank of England has now denied entering
a dialogue with the Scottish Government over its plans for an independent
Scotland to form a currency union with the UK.

Is monetary union important?

Yes, absolutely and it appears yet again
that Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon hasn’t done the work.

Yet again assumption by SNP Ministers is
that they will ask for something and therefore they will get everything they
want.

In an embarrassing development, the Bank of
England hasrejected comments by SNP Finance Secretary John Swinney who said the
Government had been involved in a "very helpful dialogue" with the
Bank over the Nationalists' key policy to keep the pound.

There has according to the Bank been no
dialogue.

Mr Swinney said he had been in contact with
the Bank as he gave evidence to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee
on Tuesday. The upshot of this is his remarks were interpreted as the start of
talks between the Scottish Government and the Bank.

Very quickly, the Bank of England has moved
to counter by saying:

"The Bank of England did no more than
answer technical questions from representatives of the Scottish Government. We
have not entered a dialogue about the possibility of changing monetary
arrangements for Scotland in future."

As we are seeing, the independence campaign
and the Scottish Government are falling apart; the trust has gone in both.

You could say that the independence campaign
hasn’t started yet, because the SNP hasn’t managed to work out the ground rules
which need to be firmly based in transparency and trust.

The SNP Government wants an independent
Scotland to enter a currency union with the rest of the UK to keep the pound,
that as an idea seems fine, but what if they say no?

What if the EU demands Scotland joins the
Euro?

Where’s the plan McB?

The whole independence campaign is a vacuum
of no substance, people campaigning for independence don’t actually know what
proposition they are campaigning for, and neither does Salmond or Sturgeon.

Independence demands a special campaign
unlike the SNP has ever done, and as we see each week, its crap founded on
crap.

SNP claim it would be welcomed into a new
"sterling zone".

Where is the agreement from Westminster?

There is none, its assumption presented as fact.

Another badly handled aspect of this
Sterling debacle is that SNP Ministers believe an independent Scotland would be
entitled to a seat on the Bank of England's monetary policy committee.

To which an answer has come back in the
shape of ‘piss off, you’re getting nothing’.

If and it is only an if that Scotland gets
monetary union with England, Scots can’t set their own interest rates and no
guarantee on lender of last resort either has been established.

Critics of the plan claim it would leave an
independent Scotland with less influence over macro-economic policy than it
enjoys at present.

Westminster because of our present set up
has to cope with a few niceties in that regard.

Addressing the Lords committee, Mr Swinney
said the Scottish Government had been in a "very helpful dialogue"
with the Bank about plans for monetary union.

He insisted the "points raised by the
bank" would "inform the model we bring forward".

Asked by Labour peer Lord Hollick why the
Bank of England should act as lender of last resort to a foreign country, he
said:

"It would be of interest to the Bank
because the Scottish economy would be contributing to the sterling zone."

"He tried to mislead not just the
House of Lords but the people of Scotland when he claimed he was in dialogue
with the Bank on an independent Scotland keeping the pound. The Bank of England
has now made clear that no such dialogue has taken place”.

Curran added:

"They misled the people of Scotland on
whether they had EU advice. They misled the people of Scotland on our
membership of the European Union. Now John Swinney has joined Nicola Sturgeon
and Alex Salmond in wilfully misleading the people of Scotland on something as
basic as the currency we should have."

This continue theme of opposition parties
about the lack of honesty of SNP Ministers making claims which turn out to be
untrue must stop.

Alex Salmond and co think they are being
very clever with the English language as they seek to change their story citing
everyone has got it wrong this is what they really meant.

Poll after poll sees the people of Scotland
turning away from them as the no vote becomes more solid, I expect it to grow
because at it heart there are several issues that need addressed which never
were.

The campaign for Scottish independence is
on course to fail; this is because of Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

What has happened up till now has been a
disgrace; there is no joined up thinking between the SNP, SNP Government and
Yes Scotland.

Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon is the ‘independence chief’, in 2014; her failures will raise
questions whether she should be leader of the SNP when Alex Salmond steps down.

Personally the thought of Sturgeon and her
nasty little clique run the SNP will see support for the party drop like a stone,
Sturgeon is an analogue politician in a digital age, she isn’t a solution; she
is part of the problem.

It appears that my assertion that the EU
may blow out the SNP over EU talks regarding independence may prove correct.

After President Jose Manuel Barroso made
his statement that Scotland if it leaves the UK would be a third country and
therefore must apply as a new state to join the EU, the SNP have been fighting
a losing damage limitation action.

Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon announced she would seek ‘urgent talks’ with the EU.

Barroso’s position is difficult because he
must not appear to be involving himself in the internal matters of the UK, that
isn’t his role or the role of the Commission regarding independence.

At present, President Jose Manuel Barroso
may snub talks with Nicola Sturgeon.

What can he say to her other than point her
in the direction of the rules?

Pretty much nothing, this is a dog and pony
show so that Nicola Sturgeon can appear effective but the truth is, on this
issue she is in the wrong along with the entire SNP Government.

Whatever guff Salmond says they all fall in
line and parrot the most outrageous rot.

So, the EC's top official will not respond
to the Deputy First Minister's request for several days as he weighs up the
request and presumably have a look at the lay of the land. If he says yes, then
other people like Catalonia will demand talks, then there is the Flemish
question to be considered.

It’s a can of worms; the safe option is to
not open the can.

Brussels regards the request for talks by
the Scottish Government as "political."

That being the case, it looks like Ms.
Sturgeon will not be getting her daily dose of publicity seeking from Europe,
which is a shame because the Christmas markets in Belgium are said to be pretty
good. And she could also take an entourage with her to try and create the
impression that she is a future world leader like her boss does.

In a letter sent on Monday, Ms Sturgeon
called for urgent talks with President Barroso after declaring he was wrong to
suggest a newly independent Scotland would have to apply for EU membership and
negotiate conditions with other Members states.

What is Nicola Sturgeon’s EU experience?

Sod all it appears, perhaps she was relying
on her legal eagle experience sharpened in Drumchapel Law Centre.

If so, she is onto plums, the position is
only not clear for idiots; it’s a simple contract issue at its heart, despite
the SNP bogus claims of things not being clear.

Sturgeon wanted face-to-face talks, face saving
talks in fact to cover up the fact that Alex Salmond and the SNP never bothered
their arse to do the work they should have done.

The idea that Barroso would want to listen to Ms.
Sturgeon’s inane drivel as she presses the SNP's claim that an independent
Scotland would remain in the EU and inherit crucial UK opt-out on the euro
single currency and Schengen free travel area will certainly not appeal to him
and raises problems.

Mark Gray, a spokesman for President
Barroso, said:

"The President has made clear
throughout he was not dealing with a specific situation, be that Scotland or
Catalonia or anywhere else."

An EC source said:

"Holding talks would be a political
question in itself, we cannot pre-empt his decision."

And with the Spanish situation on his own
doorstep pressing, he doesn’t want to go down as the man who started the disintegration
of member states.

Barroso should send her homeward to think
again!

He can do nothing and he can agree nothing,
the sooner the SNP kills this story the better, SNP members must be getting embarrassed
how utterly incompetent this SNP Government has become under Salmond and
Sturgeon’s leadership.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

It seems that the weight of public opinion and international opinion is pretty damning, Scotland if it leaves the UK will also lose EU membership.

The SNP position is that Scotland would after separation remain a member, sadly, law doesn’t work that way.

Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon articulate that since we have been EU citizens for 40 years that automatically continues.

But let us look at this scenario, if the UK leaves the EU; that would mean Scotland leaves the EU. The argument put forward by nationalists re 40 years of citizenship wouldn’t matter in law. This also means if Scotland leaves the UK, our membership automatically ceases to exist.

Alastair Darling, the Labour MP and Better together says it could takes years to sort out and with the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso saying one part of a member state, like the UK, became a separate country then it would have to apply to join the international club.

Rather than accepting the facts, Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants urgent talks, she will get nowhere, the EU will not open negations with SNP Ministers before Scotland became independent because it would be tampering with the internal matters of the UK.

And foreign policy is reserved to Westminster.

Nicola Sturgeon cannot deliver anything on this matter, it is wasted effort and quite frankly embarrassing, no means no.

Barroso comments are a huge blow to Alex Salmond who has repeatedly insisted Scotland would remain in the EU if it was independent. This latest debacle is one in a series of policy statements which people are now questioning seriously.

We can’t get in as an independent country unless we are independent first.

Mr Barroso rejected SNP claims that talks over Scotland’s terms of membership would take place from “within” the EU, arguing that legally it would be an entirely new state. So the Sturgeon position is nonsense, it is a dog and pony show, completely meaningless and devoid of substance.

We all know that a go-it-alone nation would have to negotiate its terms of entry from scratch.

That means several issues pop up like the euro, the Schengen free movement agreement, and Margaret Thatcher’s rebate.

We are not legally entitled to the rebate that is a deal between Westminster and the EU.

Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:

“Alex Salmond’s assertions and attempts to hoodwink people have now been laid bare for all to see.”

Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday said the president’s intervention was “significant” and Mr Salmond could not “have his cake and eat it”.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said SNP ministers did not agree with the president’s view and called for “early talks” with the commission.

What are they legally bound to talk about?

She added:

“We have always said that the specific terms of Scotland’s continued EU membership as an independent nation will be negotiated.”

I think people will remember the SNP position as Scotland will remain in the EU and negotiate terms from within.

What a climb down and backtracking from Nicola Sturgeon now.

Labour constitution spokeswoman Patricia Ferguson said:

“The consequences of having to reapply to join the EU and losing the UK opt-outs could mean an independent Scotland adopting the euro and having to set up border controls with England.”

When this issue popped up, the SNP was quick to claim that it was part of a “fabricated story”, now we see that this “fabricated story” is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar. Rather than establishing facts, the SNP jumped the gun only to end up look like fools again.

As Alex Salmond famously said:

“My problem is that I have too many talented people and not enough Cabinet positions”.

A whole Cabinet and they can’t understand a contract!

It’s time to drop the charade and move on, this battle has been lost, continuing only makes the SNP Government seem more devious and untrustworthy in the eyes of the public, they have been told third party, in the eyes of the people, the proposition has been established.

We leave the UK; we aren’t EU members anymore and must re-apply from scratch.